Cape Town – If you’re planning a visit to either Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen or Timbuktu in the next couple of month, we’ve got some bad news…

The countries have just been ranked among the most dangerous countries in the world, according to a new map designed to alert travellers to the level of risk they face when visiting destinations worldwide.

If you’re looking for the safest places to head to, however, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland would hit just the spot, according to the research.

South Africa, despite experiencing a BOOM in tourism over the last couple of years, ranks as a medium risk country to visitors on the Travel Security Risk map.

Although there are no ‘sporadic acts of terrorism’ we know of, the map warns travellers and international assignees that they may face risk from communal, sectarian or racial violence and violent crime.

It also says that the capacity of security and emergency services and infrastructure varies.